Blog: Solid State Drive vs Hard Drive

Intel SSD

A solid state drive, or SSD, is a data storage device that can have a huge impact on your system’s performance—even more than getting a new computer that runs on a hard drive.

Unlike a hard drive, SSDs have no moving parts. SSDs are designed for storage and have quite a few benefits compared to a traditional hard drive. SSDs are:

  • Faster: This is where SSDs really stand apart. An SSD-equipped PC will boot in seconds whereas a hard drive requires time to speed up to operating specs. A hard drive will also continue to be slower than an SSD during normal operation.
  • More energy efficient: SSDs use significantly less power at peak load than hard drives, less than 2W vs. 6W for a hard drive. Their energy efficiency can deliver longer battery life in notebooks, less power strain on systems, and a cooler computing environment.
  • More durable: An SSD has no moving parts, so it is more likely to keep your data safe even if you drop your PC!
  • Quieter: SSDs make virtually no noise at all since they’re non-mechanical. Even the quietest hard drives will still make a sound. If you work with audio or recording music, this makes a big difference in sound quality.

The cons of SSDs used to be their price, however, prices have been getting progressively lower over the past few years.

AC&NC offers a variety of storage types and can help you assess what your needs are. Many of our JetStor devices include SSDs, ranging from 100GB to 960GB depending on your needs. Call AC&NC for more specifics or visit our products page.